2021: Biked the Erie Canal trail from Buffalo to Cohoes. Well worth the time. And mostly a very pleasant experience, with just a few caveats. Trail improvements are ongoing and signage along the trail is not always up to date, so check your route carefully, especially where it is on-road. The initial section from downtown Buffalo is grungy city streets, but that improves with a great, mostly off-road trail all the way to Lyons. Lockport to Spencerport is fairly exposed, but from there on to Lyons is generally pleasantly green and shaded. From Clyde to Port Byron and through Syracuse were onroad and not always clearly signed and were the least pleasant. From the east side of Syracuse all the way to Cohoes was a delightful and beautiful ride, with the exception of finding one's way onroad and with poor signage through Rome. All in all (despite my caveats) a good, local, human-powered bucket-list endeavor, with thanks to all the communities along the way and everyone maintaining and improving and filling the gaps in the trail.

Signage coming into Rome traveling east, or leaving Rome traveling west, is non-existent. Expect to travel on busy city roads. Trail Links is a bit better than the Erie Canalway booklet in navigating this, but it’s still a challenge. Lots of construction in Utica and the trail east of Leland Ave is closed.

The trail in Cleveland has had serious construction while water lines are put down. East of Cleveland the trail is closed, but west is open but pretty bumpy due to ruts. We didn't find a designated parking area so we parked roadside. It was a nice enough ride, no other bikers but frequent ATVs. Lots of birds, open fields and woods but there are nicer trails. We had a surprise - the Grace Tyler Winery is adjacent to the trail and we took a break there.

The creek is pretty nice, but overshadowed most of the way by the adjacent noisy interstate. Also, much of the asphalt has tree roots running under it, causing the trail to be quite bumpy.

New off road section was created along Broadway in Albany after coming out of the tunnel. Watch for the signs for the Empire Trail also

Small section of this trail runs alongside sewage treatment facility (no bad smells, just interrupts the natural environment for a while). Nice views of the stream. Well maintained, easy walking.

Great for short walks but not paved so I don’t recommend it for over 5 miles but seems good for ATVs

Trail near Amsterdam is pretty scenic and has potential to be really nice, however, the trail both East and West of Amsterdam was very bumpy in spots with many tree roots pushing thru the old pavement. Some sections need to be repaved.

Parking situation was easy, I drove by it at first because I didn’t see any markings for it though. Just a open area full of gravel. Trail was mostly compact dirt with some areas of pavement/gravel. Dirt wasn’t too beat up, besides some divots from ATVs that use the trail also. Any gains/drops in elevation were very gradual, not too difficult to manage on a bike. Trees provide shade a majority of the time which was nice. About 5 road crossings within the first 5 1/2 miles I rode East. Enjoyable ride, will likely do again soon.